Adelina Italian Restaurant, Rabat, Malta

Adelina had great reviews on Trip Advisor and appeared to be an authentic Italian hidden gem, close to the beautiful walled city of Mdina in Malta. Unluckily for us, we arrived two weeks after the Italian owner had sold the place.

There were plenty of restaurants within the walls of Mdina, but I’d decided to find somewhere that tourists wouldn’t just wander into. So we left the walls of Mdina, across the bridge into Rabat. Despite iPhone map guidance, It took several attempts to find Adelina around a corner and down some steps.

The interior looked cosy, with just a few tables. Unfortunately, there wasn’t a cosy feeling as a portable stereo was playing Shakira-style pop on repeat.

We both ordered ricotta ravioli with tomato sauce (€13 per), large beer was €3.

The ravioli was very average and the pasta too thick. Just in case you think I’m being picky, I cut the pieces in half to show how thick.

The owner asked how was everything. I did consider providing a full critique of the food and music, but I find in these situations that the restaurant thinks I’m just trying to get some money back – that isn’t the case and all I wanted was good food in the first place.

The owner said that he’d only taken over two weeks before. I realised then, that, for the second day in a row, Trip Advisor had failed me; first was because of fake positive reviews at Peppino’s and today because the restaurant hadn’t been reset after new ownership.

The only good food we had in Malta was in the Hilton or the airport lounge. Perhaps we were just unlucky.